Bug Out Vehicle - Must Have Features

[Paul_H]

Hi all

I know the topic of what bug out vehicle would be best has been done to death and im sure if we were in a position to then we would all have a nice Land Rover 110 or disco with an old oil burner engine in it and no fancy electronics for the EMP to fry but im sure that 99% of us are not in a position to have one just sat there for the " just in case" excuse

So lets just assume for a moment that we have our own choice of vehicle that suits our budget needs etc of daily life.

So there it is its sat on your drive way and your going to go do some mods or add things to it, ins tall things etc to help in the event the SHTF and you do have to bring it to life as a BOV what would be on your list of things to add or to do etc.

I currently drive a mitis L200 that apart from being my daily driver is also used for providing safety cover at events mainly motorsports, this can be anything from doing communications to recovery work and everything in between. Hence to say lots of kit already and I plan for the worst and include having to stay overnight in that so have a top box on the rear canopy that houses all my camping kit.

I am planning on changing the vehicle later this year or early next year again will be a pick up prob a hilux invincible if I can save the funds and resist my inner magpie for shiny bits lol

So over to you what things would you be looking to have available installed or simply there etc I think I have a competent vehicle if I need to bug out so interested to see what people come up with that iv not thought about. I can go a bit more indepth about stuff that I carry if people are interested for eg in the radio kit thats carried as im also a radio ham, how I power all the toys etc

[pseudonym]

Well as I only have a Feista, something bigger and 4WD for me would do fine.

[TopSod]

This is something I've been toying with too, I don't have the space at home to park a spare vehicle so I was toying with renting a garage locally and using it as a store and somewhere to park a BOV, but which to get and what to kit it out with?

[tanstaafl]

Good question Paul, and I must admit I have not given it much if any thought, I bought my Pajero and put a GHB in the back and thats about it, will be interested to hear others ideas.



In it at the moment

Towing Bar
Charger ( Got the twin battery winter pack which is good/you can jump start yourself off the 2nd battery )
Tyre pump
GHB with water, change of clothes , boots and food
Toolkit all sorts
Jump leads
Maxpedition mini full of bits and pieces (survival kit type stuff)

And I am toying with stashing a Mora Knife somewhere, but am concerned with the legality verses maybe needing it

[Paul_H]

I do like the pajero there a competent vehicle and rather nice too

I have a wide range of kit that I carry day to day mainly due to the events and that if its all in the truck then I know were it is and dont have the problems with swapping kit out depending on what im doing on the day and allot of the time am asked to go and do something else on an event different to what I go for so its handy to have it all there.

Keep a wide range of recovery kit to help get stricken cars out of whatever predicament they have got themselves into including front and rear mounted winches

Comprehensive tool kit with a range of hand tools and automotive tools, I will also be keeping some more specialist tools as and when funds allow me to double up on them it all comes down to the age old problem of funds not meeting want lol

Carry a fair bit of communications equipment too as there is normally 2 different systems in use on an event, the safety radio system and the management system for organisers to use and if thats not enough there is the back to back radio equipment for use by us on scene and then theres the ham radio equipment

As you would expect for a safety vehicle theres the normal first aid kit and range of fire extinguishers etc

Also carry allot of little odds and sods that iv found useful over the years, whistles, stop watch, binos the list is a bit endless lol

I am thinking of maybe throwing an on board 240vac system for when I need to run stuff that I cant get 12vdc chargers for. On Board Air for compressor tools is also a possible too but will prob leave that till the new vehicle.

Having thought about this since my original post I was thinking long range fuel tank might be an option but again thats down to cost and also thinking of maybe a solar setup to charge the house battery if I go for a split charge system and 2nd battery my main reason for this on the current vehicle was for all the warning lights but since doing it iv swapped most of them out for LED and the plan on the new truck is to use LED flood lighting for scene lighting.

[dannytsg]

I currently have a simple stock of basics in both my cars for everyday scenarios such as, shovel, foot and electric pumps, jacks, tool kit, weather proof jacket, basic MRE's, foil blankets, emergency PAYG mobile with £10 credit on and jumper cables/tow rope.

Ideally I'd love to be able to store items for a longer term but for as much as is practicable, the above is all I can fit for now.

[Rusty337]

when i get some more cash saved up , im planning on getting a suzuki jimny and kitting it out with flood lights , a winch, a bigger tank and also doing some mods to the interior too. will decide what to do when ive got more cash. as standard the first thing to go will be an EDC. ill be putting up pics on the project section once i get the car. cant wait.

Rusty

[Paul_H]

Thought I would revisit this post and give a quick update

My truck decided to blow the alternator up just before xmas and knowing a few little issues for the MOT in March I took it off the road to do the work that was needed plus some other things that were bugging the hell out of me

I use the truck as a work horse for event cover work as well as a day to day driver so its had a bit of work done, iv gone through it and put in new switch panels and in the process of putting in extra options that I want for eg, when I can afford it an on board air supply, so got the wring in ready from power to switch and fed through to were the relay and output will be so when I can afford the kit its just a case of plug and play and mounting it up.

Also put in feeds for 240v power in the cab im going to get a 300-500w inverter down the line thats going to go behind the rear seats to give me some mains power in the cab for charging things that need a quicker charge than on 12v or for things I don't have 12v chargers for

I am also thinking that when I get to wiring it all in I want to have the facility to power stuff from the onsite caravan hook ups that you get on camp sites and this got me thinking too, as the inverter is going to be run of a 2nd battery it would be a good idea to have some sort of charging capability for when on external mains hook up so I am thinking of putting in a small battery charger in the pick up bed with the 2nd battery so that when its on external power I can flick a switch and let the charger top up the external battery if its had a hard time during the day and iv not been running the vehicle as much as I would like.

Only other thing iv put in and not really that big a deal is iv put a switch in for the 12v cool box, some of the events I do I might travel up the day before etc and have time to go shopping on route so no need to have the cool box running all the time its in the truck and as its stored in the kit rack in the rear I can flick a switch a bit before I need it to be cold and have it cold when I get to the supermarket for grub and if its not needed then can leave it turned off this saves me having to slide it all out to get to the switch on the box.

Also putting in feeds for work lights all round and ext 12v pick up and 240v pick up so a few things to keep me busy then next project is a trailer that I was given so going to see what I can do to that to make it a basic camping trailer or bug out trailer though plan is to build one when funds are a bit better.

Am surprised this topic has been quiet I thought it would have got peoples imagination going and some good things sprout from it, theres lots of talk on the forum about bug out vehicles so thought a thread about ok we got the vehicle now what do we do, add to, mods to do etc would be a good topic

[Hamradioop]

second large capacity battery
1000w inverter
150w solar panel
charge controlled

[Paul_H]

Hi hamradioop

theres a 2nd battery fitted already in the rear pickup bed that runs 99% of the non factory kit, flashy lights, comms, tablet, phone charger etc done this way as it leaves the main vehicle battery free only things that run from this are the 2 winches and there never used unless the engine is running. Also it was just easier to run a fixed feed from battery 2 into the cab and run everything through a marine grade distrobution block and fuse holder

a 1000w inverter would be nice but I think for me a bit higher than I need but when I come to paying out for that ill get the biggest I can do, solar panel would be really nice to keep the 2nd battery topped up but think the split charger should do a decent job of that as I dont really leave it running stuff for too long at a time the most its going to have to do is run the comms kit and keep the cool box running now and then but its an option I am going to account for so that if I do decide to go for it then I have the stuff fitted ready and its good to go.

Im in the process of replacing the 3 gauges that are fitted to a pod ontop of my dash as I dont use them they currently are compass tilt meter and volt meter, im thinking of fitting 2 digital volt meters one for main battery and one for the 2nd battery so I can see what each is doing

Got a few ideas in the mix infact one of my last jobs last time I worked on truck was to mount the body for my Yaesu 350 behind the rear seats now have full APRS ability and got one mount run through for 2m 70cms also have a 7900 here im thinking of putting in there too that or as its small and remote head would make a nice go box radio